A rock musician's effects are an unusual addition to a scholarly archive. "Stuart Little Band and Clark somewhat demonstrate the life of a local band during a significant time in rock music," archivist Michael Wurtz explained.

The collection indeed chronicles the life of a band - and the death of Clark, its songwriter, harmonica player, poet and background vocalist, who committed suicide in 1979.

Named for E.B. White's adventurous mouse, The Stuart Little Band was a folk rock quintet, 1969-73. These guys were no garage band. Two were trained at UOP's Conservatory.

Distinctively, the band had no drummer; rhythm came from a small percussion and strong bass/rhythm guitar. Two vocalists often sang in duet.

The lineup included a flutist and a virtuoso lead guitarist, poet and - often, as guest star - a mime, Stockton's Bernie Bang.

Performing original songs, Stuart Little became a favorite opener for heavyweight musical acts touring the Bay Area, including David Bowie, Van Morrison and Bob Marley.

They wowed critics. The San Francisco Chronicle called them "A little known, astonishing band." A Sacramento critic praised them as "original and sometimes arresting." KCBS radio: "Stuart Little Band is bound to be the mouse that roared."

Today, rhythm guitarist Scott Liggett is an Emmy-winning composer and music producer in Hollywood (when I called, he said he had a meeting with Chelsea Handler in 10 minutes).

"I think we really had the core ingredients for doing music at that time," said Liggett, 65. "We were very conscious of all the basic things of music: melody, counterpoint, dynamics, arrangements."

With the percussion dialed down, the band's elegant musicality came to the fore, Liggett said. Being so different, the band complemented headliners.

"That's why we got passed around so much as opening act. We could open for Sarah Vaughan one night, we could open for Van Morrison the next night ... Buddy Rich ... it was crazy."

During summers, the band toured the coast and Tahoe, eyes on a recording deal.

"Gordy wanted to be a millionaire," said his sister, Susan Clark of Bellingham, Wash. (Clark's band mates nicknamed him "Grode"). "He had this drive, this desire. He really wanted to go someplace and do something and be somebody."

Maturing, Stuart Little created a 22-song rock opera. "Ravel" is the story of a Stockton farm worker who overcomes heartbreak and finds himself through music.

"Ravel" combined folk rock, orchestral music, song, dance and mime. When Stuart Little performed it locally, a critic called it "striking."

The music industry took notice. The band did demos in L.A. Bigwig impresarios Robert Stigwood and Lou Adler expressed interest.

But the band, so harmonious in music, was dissonant on percentages and other business matters.

The Whiskey a Go Go, the West Hollywood launching pad for innumerable rock stars, offered Stuart Little a booking. The band instead opted to honor its contract to play in Lake Tahoe.

"We didn't know what we were doing," said bass player Stephen Solari, now a retired psychologist in Stockton. "It was misdirection."

Then Clark began to come apart. His condition was later diagnosed as schizophrenia. His young band mates knew only that Gordy became someone they couldn't handle anymore. He had to go.

It was a blow to Stuart Little.

"It shook us up; it really did," Liggett said. "It was like losing a family member and a creative brother."

Clark retreated to family in Marin. His conditioned worsened. On Dec. 27, 1978, despondent after years of struggling against schizophrenia, he shot himself.

His family donated his musical effects to his school.

His band mates went on to have several brushes with stardom. "We were just on the edge," Liggett said.

But The Stuart Little Band band broke up in 1973, the mouse that almost roared.

Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/fitzgeraldblog and on Twitter @stocktonopolis.